Shangri-La Chinese Acrobats
Sunday, September 21
3 pm
Columbia Theatre

Ticket prices: $20 - $28, with discounts for students and seniors

“The Shangri-La Chinese Acrobats performance consisted of sensational Chinese acrobatics, balancing feats, marital arts displays, contortionists, juggling, climbing, diving and tumbling. Add to this the beautiful costumes and a sound track that ranged from Chinese music to Latin sambas, always in an upbeat cadence that kept up with the dashing performers who darted here, there and everywhere, and, of course, up and down! I’ve seen acrobatic acts before on stages from New York to Napa town, but this one I have to rate as “Big League.” It wasn’t just good – it was better and more thrilling than any I’ve ever seen.”
-- Napa Valley Register

Becoming an Acrobat 101—

By the time a professional acrobatics troupe, such as the Shangri-La Chinese Acrobats, reaches a Western audience, each member of the company has logged thousands of hours learning their craft. What is dazzling and effortless to our eyes has been honed from an early age through rigorous training. In fact, many company members “grow up in the troupe” and watch their parents contort, leap and sail through the air. The tradition of Chinese acrobats is an art form steeped in history and culture that has been passed down for centuries, from generation to generation. There is no equivalent in the West.

Formal lessons and training begin at the age of five or six, when students attend three different specialty schools for the arts in China: one for dance, one for Chinese opera and one devoted to acrobatics. At the acrobatics school, students spend four hours a day going through their paces, practicing balancing, tumbling, dancing, flexibility and strength, so that by the time they reach the age of fourteen or fifteen, their art has become a part of their daily lives and is virtually second nature. Becoming an acrobat and, ultimately, joining a troupe such as the Shangri-La Chinese Acrobats, is a goal worth pursuing. Being a professional acrobat offers a performer a unique status in China, equivalent to that of an American opera star or prima ballerina, with opportunities to travel and perform around the world.

A 2,000 Year-Old Tradition—

It was during the Han Dynasty, more than 2,000 years ago, that the Chinese saw their first acrobats, magicians and jugglers. These industrious street performers gained popularity and a following which led to performing for royalty and later at ceremonial carnivals and public theaters. Far from the bustling cities, the art form evolved in the countryside as well. Peasant farmers spent their non-productive winters developing their acrobatic skills to improve their position in society. They practiced with anything that wasn't nailed down, from cups and saucers to tables and chairs. They even used their own bodies to build human pyramids!

Physical strength, impeccable balance and a keen sense of timing are vital in acrobatics, but so is Chi Kung – the Asian philosophy of inner strength, which focuses the body and mind to work together in perfect harmony. Each individual performer must be in harmony with other members of the troupe to create magnificent displays of balancing, juggling, dance, comedy and magic.